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If you are just talking about the bio wheel it self I would recommend using one of the filter cartridges. but don't move it until you have the tank setup and up to the temp. and are ready to put the fish in.

Good point made by Lady Hobbs there, in a 50 gallon you should have no less than 15 tiger barbs in my opinion. If you only keep several they will soon start hassling your other fish, and I reckon your pictus cats whiskers will be the first on their list.

Pictus imho are one of the most aggresive cats out there, they are also very hard to house with other fish unless you have a big tank and big tank mates.

They are very boistrous and while they might not attack other fish the way they scoot about at high speed around tanks will stress some fish.

You really need a 30G+ for them and need to choose any tankmates wisely.

The reason that Pictus Cats are quite often labelled aggressive, is because a lot of people try and keep them in a tank that is too small, and they try and keep just one of them. Pictus are a schooling species of Cat, and like nearly every schooling species of fish, they will lash out at other fishes, or go shy if they're forced to live on their own.

I agree that the Pictus is a very active fish. The more you have, the more active they will get, but also less aggressive. But as for a good tank size, I would start at a 48" long 70g, and have 4 Pictus. Absolute minimum size for 1 Pictus, would be a 40g, but even then you'll probably have similar trouble with the Pictus being cranky because he'll be on his own. I wouldn't put 1 Pictus in a 30g - it'll start even more trouble, especially if you have one that grows bigger than the average 5 - 6", which can happen. They're very powerful swimmers.

Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn. ~Chuck Clark